The proposed research is a multidisciplinary approach to the investigation of the etiology and treatment of multiple sclerosis. The first project is concerned with the basic immunological mechanisms which operate in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in the Lewis rat. These studies are to be extended to an investigation of patients with multiple sclerosis to determine if specific binding of MS lymphocytes with myelin basic protein can be demonstrated by autoradiography. In the second project efforts are being made to suppress EAE in the Lewis rat with nonencephalitogenic materials in order to develop a safe and rational approach to the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis if sensitization to myelin BP can be demonstrated. The third study is an investigation into the basic structure function and metabolism of myelin basic protein. Current areas under investigation include the mechanism for the formation of a dimer of basic protein and the patterns of incorporation of radiolabelled leucine into myelin basic protein in vitro. The fourth study is a search for the antigen(s) present in CNS tissue from normal and multiple sclerosis subjects which will react specifically with cerebrospinal fluid IgG from patients with multiple sclerosis. These projects, therefore, include research in the areas of clinical neurology, biochemistry and immunology.